The design was a result of the 1948 locomotive exchanges undertaken in advance of further locomotive classes being constructed. Five different classes of locomotive were selected to compare the performance of express locomotives. These engines were then used on lines away from their normal territory and in the case of the SR Merchant Navy engines fitted with tenders capable of taking water from water troughs as there were no such facilities on the SR.

The general view of the trials is that they were an unnecessary publicity stunt and provided very little information that was not already available. The A4 pacifics were said to have been suffering from poor maintenance during the Second Word War and whilst they had the lowest coal and water consumption rates they did suffer three failures.

The Britannia Class was based on several previous LMS locomotive designs, and also significantly influenced by the Bulleid SR pacifics, notably in the boiler and rear truck design, incorporating the best practices in locomotive technology as regards labour-saving and lowering maintenance costs; various weight-saving measures also increased the route availability of a pacific-type locomotive on the British Railways network.

Neither of these are surprising given Riddles background and the fact that the SR engines were the most modern of those available at the time. Riddle had joined the LNWR as an apprentice in 1909 at Crewe and had also spent time at L&YR’s Horwich Works. In 1933 he was appointed as Locomotive Assistant to the new Chief Mechanical Engineer, Sir William Stanier, and in 1935 became Stanier’s Principal Assistant. Following Riddles taking up the role of Member of the Railway Executive for Mechanical and Electrical Engineering in 1948 his two principal assistance were both former LMS men (Roland C. Bond, Chief Officer (Locomotive Construction and Maintenance), and E. S. Cox, Executive Officer (Design).

In keeping with the necessity to follow best practice in creating standardised steam locomotives, the Britania class engines utilised a variation of both boiler and trailing wheel of the Southern Railway’s Merchant Navy class, while weight was kept within the margins laid down by the Battle of Britain and West Country class light pacifics, all of which were designed by Oliver Bulleid. The firebox was also similar in having a rocking grate, which allowed the fire to be rebuilt without stopping the locomotive, removing both ash and clinker on the move; but unlike the SR pacifics, the inner firebox was constructed of copper instead of steel, and lacked thermic syphons. The boiler was based on the LMS Princess Coronation design. A self-cleaning smokebox was used, which enabled ash to flow into the atmosphere, reducing the workload of the engine cleaner at the end of a working day. A single chimney was placed on top of the smokebox, which was unusual for a pacific type of locomotive. This was because the blastpipe was designed by S.O. Ell at Swindon Works, who claimed that “better results could be obtained from a well-designed single chimney than some of the previous double chimney arrangements”. The Britannias had 6 ft 2 in driving wheels, a compromise that took into account the intended mixed-traffic role they were designed for. This meant that they were large enough for sustained fast running with heavy passenger trains, yet small enough to allow them to undertake more mundane tasks such as freight haulage.

This was the first of the new BR Standard classes to appear in 1951. The locomotives contained features which were standard throughout almost all of the BR Standard types, namely high running plates, two outside cylinders and Walschaert valve gear. The raised running plate allowed for easy access the inside of the frames for purposes of lubrication.

The lack of wheel splashers on this running plate also reduced the risk of the bearings overheating, by allowing more air to flow around the axles when at speed. The footplate was designed around the requirements of the operating crews, with a mock-up being constructed at Crewe to test ergonomics and usability. For ease of maintenance, availability of spare parts and increased reliability, two sets of Walschaerts valve gear were used, along with the largest cylinders capable of staying within the British loading gauge. Boiler ‘plumbing’ was also generally exposed to maintain ease of access. In common with other BR standard designs there was no exhaust injector, as this device was temperamental unless rigorously maintained.

Three batches totalling 55 engines were constructed at Crewe Works, before the publication of the 1955 Modernisation Plan. It is understood that the original intention was to build 91 engines of the class. 70000 Britania cost £20,325 to build whilst the last of the class 70054 Dornoch Firth cost £25,331 to complete less than four years later.

The first batch of twenty-five locomotives (70000-24) were completed between January and August 1951 but in October of that year they were all withdrawn after several complaints

When a connecting rod on 70004 William Shakespeare snapped at speed near Headcorn, Kent whilst it was hauling the Golden Arrow Pullman. The cause was traced to driving wheels shifting on their axles and after it had emerged that there had been six previous incidents of broken con-rods, the whole class was withdrawn from service. The problem was found to be related to the method of fitting the roller bearings on the axles. In December 1951, 70005 John Milton, barely run-in, was handed to engineers at Rugby test plant for assessment after which it was tested on the Carlisle to Settle line. All of the engines were then modified, and released back into revenue-earning service.

The second batch of 30 locomotives were built at Crewe between September 1952 and October 1953. The last batch of 10 engines were completed in the period June to September 1954.

It is interesting to note that whilst the GWR King class shows the highest performance at low speed it falls below the Gresley V2 and Standard Britannia locomotives at express speeds.

Tender allocations-

BR1 4,250 gallon

70000-70024 and 70030-70044

BR1A 5,000 gallon

70025-70029

BR1D 4,725 gallon

70045-70054

The BR1D tenders had the capacity for 9 tons of coal and 4,750 gallons of water, due to the fact that they were intended for use on longer runs in the north of the railway network. This tender design also featured a steam-powered coal pusher, which eliminated the need for crew members to mount the tender to pull forward coal when the locomotive was at a stop.

70043 and 70044 were delivered with Westinghouse airbrakes fitted alongside the smokebox and with no smoke deflectors. The two locomotives, which looked radically different from the rest of the class, were allocated to Manchester (Longsight) and ran a series of brake trials on the London Midland main line during the mid-1950s. Subsequently both had the equipment removed and deflectors fitted.

70045 was fitted with LMS-style oval buffers in the course of repairs after collision damage

70004 was exhibited at the Festival of Britain when it was new in 1951. Afterwards it was allocated at Stewarts Lane where it was kept in immaculate condition for many years for working the Golden Arrow Pullman service between London and Dover.

As steam locomotives were ousted from each of the BR Regions, all of the Britannias’ ultimately finished their days on the London Midland region.

Names

From 1948 until the mid-1950s, the responsibility for recommending names for locomotives on British Railways rested with a Locomotive Naming Committee of three senior railway officers.

The Committee set itself several rules and over the years developed many practices. The names had to be euphonious (they had to have a pleasant sound). Also, their meaning had to be readily apparent to anyone interested, whether railwayman or member of the public. There had to be good publicity value in the names as well as providing good morale for the staff, and the collection of names for a class had to provide some form of class identity. Another rule was not to use names of people who were still alive at the time, and some on the Committee had a strong dislike of names or associations with the military. There was a preference for names of heroes and other well-known people.

The name that was to be bestowed on the first class member caused great debate on the Committee and the wider executive of British Railways. Noted railway enthusiast Bishop Eric Treacy, suggested the name “Britannia” which is the Latin name derived from the Greek term ‘Brettaniai’; a collection of islands with individual names. The origin of the name dates back to ancient times when the warmongering Roman Empire invaded the island in AD 42 and established a province called ‘Britannia’ bordering on ‘Caledonia’ in the north; the land known today as Scotland. It wasn’t until 1707 that both Kingdoms of England and Scotland were joined together and the name ‘Britannia’ was adopted as a new national identity.

This set the general theme of the naming process, which featured great Britons, although several deviations from the theme were allowed. These exceptions were allocated to those that operated on the Western Region, which were given names of former Star Class locomotives, and those of the Scottish Region, which were granted the names of the various Scottish firths. 70047 was never named.

Accidents and Incidents

On 20 November 1955, locomotive 70026 Polar Star was hauling an excursion train from Treherbert to Paddington that was derailed at Milton, between Steventon and Didcot. The locomotive was hauling ten coaches and it failed to slow down for a low speed crossing and as a result the engine and several carriages rolled down the embankment, which exacerbated the severity of the accident. The signals were on the right hand side of the track, but the driving position on the engine was on the left hand side, which hampered visibility. Western Region based examples had hand/foot holds cut into the smoke deflectors rather than steps, to improve forward visibility. This was subsequently done on the Eastern Region locomotives. Eleven people were killed and 163 were injured.

On 21 January 1960, locomotive 70052 Firth of Tay was hauling an express passenger train from Glasgow St Enoch to London St Pancras that was derailed at Settle on the descent from Ais Gill summit. The had driver heard a repeated knocking which he thought came from the connecting rods near where they were connected to the locomotive’s drive wheels. He reduced speed and later stopped the train in a gale force wind while it was snowing at Garsdale, but was unable to find the cause of the noise. He continued south at what he thought was less than 20 mph, however timings from the signal boxes showed the speed was 40 mph. The fireman on the right of the train then saw sparks from the side of the locomotive as ballast began to be thrown up against the cab. As the driver made a full brake application, an LMS class 5-hauled goods train passed in the opposite direction. The engine and eight leading wagons derailed, colliding with the side of the first three carriages of the express, killing five people and injuring nine more. A search of the track along which the express had travelled revealed that between 33 miles and 12 miles before the accident it had shed various components of its side assembly. At the point where the driver inspected the locomotive all the parts that were missing had already fallen off, but due to the severity of the weather during this inspection the official report did not attach any blame to the driver for not spotting this, although the report did comment that the driver proceeded afterwards at an unsafe speed. Eventually the entire connecting rod had ploughed into the ballast near the adjacent line; wrecking the track in front of the oncoming goods train. The root cause was the failure of maintenance staff to properly secure the slide bar nuts; a problem which had been reported several times previously on that locomotive and on others in the same class but without fatal consequences. As a result of the enquiry the difficult to access nuts were redesigned.

On 8 August 1964, locomotive 70002 Geoffrey Chaucer ran into a parcels train at Carlisle. There were no injuries or serious damage to the engine.

On 5 June 1965 70051 Firth of Forth was hauling a Euston to Carlisle express when a fierce blowback occurred near Winsford. The driver was engulfed in flames but stayed at the contro;s to bring the train which was travelling at around 55mph to a halt. He suffered 80% burns from which he died a week later. Wallace Oakes who was the driver was posthumously awarded the George Cross for his actions. The fireman managed to escape the full impact by clinging to the outside of the cab. The Crewe based driver was buried in an unmarked grave until a headstone was place on it in 2018. The George Cross was purchased by the National Railway Museum and is on display at York.

On 30 July 1966, locomotive 70017 Arrow was hauling a train of empty stock from Glasgow to Morecambe when it ran into the rear of a goods train at Carlisle Upperby. Although the damage to the locomotive was not extensive it was not considered worth repairing the engine and it was withdrawn from service in October 1966. There were no serious injuries as the guard of the goods train was able to jump off the train before the locomotive made contact with the goods van.

On 27 May 2012 70013 Oliver Cromwell was hauling a train from Finsbury Park to Rowsley operated by West Coast Railways (WCR). As the train entered Wood Green tunnel in north London there was a blowback of the locomotive’s fire and the three staff on the footplate injured by the flames and two had to be taken to hospital for treatment but were released later that day.

The train started its journey from Southall depot in west London, where the locomotives and coaches were based. The train was planned to run empty from Southall to Ferme Park sidings, 3 ½ miles north of King’s Cross station where the diesel locomotive was to run round to the opposite end of the train. It would then haul the train to King’s Cross, where the passengers were to board. The diesel would then be uncoupled and the train would depart powered only by the steam locomotive.

The route between Southall and Ferme Park was obstructed by over running engineering work and the train was delayed by two hours. Network Rail and WCR controllers agreed to a change to the plan for the train to make up for some of this lost time. The train was diverted to Finsbury Park and the passengers joined it there. The diesel locomotive was left on the front of the train in order to both save time uncoupling it at Finsbury Park and to provide assistance to the steam locomotive, reducing the risk of its exhaust causing lineside fires (the weather had been dry during the previous week) and reducing its water consumption (the water supply in the tender had to last an extra two hours). The revised plan was to detach the diesel locomotive when the train stopped for water at Holme, to the south of Peterborough.

The detail that follows was obtained from the accounts of witnesses who were on the locomotive at the time of the incident or from the data recorders fitted to both of the locomotives.

The diesel locomotive provided most of the power to move the train as it departed from Finsbury Park, but the driver of the steam locomotive applied a small amount of power because lubrication of the locomotive cylinders was reliant on steam passing through them. This demand for power caused the fire to burn more strongly because the exhaust steam in a steam locomotive is designed to create a vacuum in the smokebox which draws the hot gases from the fire through the boiler tubes, thereby increasing the rate of burn of the fire. This in turn further heats the water and increases the boiler pressure. Four minutes into the journey, as the train was passing Alexandra Palace station, the locomotive fire had heated the water in the boiler to the extent that the boiler pressure was approaching its maximum allowed value and the safety valves were starting to operate.

The driver increased the regulator setting on the locomotive to use some of the steam, thus reducing the pressure, and also provide some assistance to the diesel locomotive on the uphill gradient. At the same time, the fireman, as part of his normal responsibilities, operated one of the injectors to put water into the boiler and so reduce the pressure.

The fireman noticed that the locomotive’s exhaust sound had changed, indicating that some water was being carried over into the cylinders, a phenomenon known as priming. He called to the driver to report this (the driver and fireman on a steam locomotive are usually on opposite sides of the cab). The driver did not hear what he said and the fireman went to the driver’s side of the cab to repeat the message. The driver then started to take steps to deal with the problem by closing the regulator and moving the reverser to the mid gear (neutral) position. At this time the firebox door was open and the blower valve was slightly open.

As the fireman returned to his side of the cab he noticed that the diesel locomotive was just entering the single track bore of Wood Green tunnel. The fireman stated that he would normally close the firebox door and that he or the driver would further open the blower valve before entering a tunnel. However, there was insufficient time to do this before the locomotive entered the tunnel and the fire blew back, filling the cab with flames. The speed of the train at this time was 56 mph.

The fireman and the support crew member, who was standing behind the driver, tried to shelter from the flames. There were no controls within their reach that they could use to stop the blowback. The driver, who was partly shielded from the flames by some of the cab equipment, fully opened the blower valve and this stopped the blowback while the locomotive was still in the tunnel.

Number in Service.

Built

Withdrawals

No. in Service

BR Numbers

Quantity

1951

70000-70024

25

25

1952

70025-70037

13

38

1953

70038-70044

7

45

1954

70045-70054

10

55

1955-64

55

1965

2

53

1966

12

42

1967

41

1

1968

1

0

Allocation of locomotives in service as at 1st of January.

Depot

1952

1953

1955

1958

1960

1962

1963

1964

1965

1966

1967

Aston

9

8

6

Banbury

8

Camden

1

2

Cardiff Canton

4

5

15

12

Carlisle Canal

2

Carlisle Kingmoor

4

9

18

18

39

Carlisle Upperby

6

5

11

Carnforth

Crewe North

3

7

19

16

Crewe South

9

Holyhead

3

5

5

6

4

8

Immingham

7

7

Laira (Plymouth)

2

3

4

Leeds Holbeck

1

3

3

Llandudno Jct

4

Longsight

2

5

5

4

March

15

15

Neasden

5

Newton Abbot

1

1

1

Newont Heath

4

Norwich Thorpe

8

9

10

10

21

Old Oak Common

4

4

5

Polmadie

5

5

3

3

Rugby

4

Rugby Test Station

1

1

Stewarts Lane

2

2

2

2

Stockport Edgeley

3

3

Stratford

4

9

13

13

Trafford Park

6

Willesden

7

4

11

8

Yarmouth South Town

1

Unallocated

1

24

38

55

55

55

55

55

55

55

53

42

Forty-eight engines were withdrawn from service whilst based at Carlisle Kingmoor. Another two ended their service at Carlisle Upperby. The remaining five were withdrawn whilst based at Crewe South, Newton Heath, Stockport Edgeley (2) and Carnforth. The last withdrawal was 70013 Oliver Cromwell from Carnforth in August 1968.

70013 Oliver Cromwell was the only member of the class still in service as at 1st January 1968.By the end of 1967 steam was concentrated in a relatively small part of the BR network. All of the Western Region steam had all gone by 1965, apart from three narrow gauge locomotives on the Vale of Rheidol, and there were no Southern Region locomotives in use after 1966. The last Eastern region locomotives were withdrawn in 1966, apart from two B1 class service engines that were based at Staveley Barrow Hill. Despite being relatively new engines only 52 standard class locomotives were still in service at the end of 1967. Of this 52, 23 were standard class 73000 locomotives, which were largely based on the Black Five, and 10 standard class 75000 engines which were a smaller version of the 73000 class.

The unallocated locomotive as at 1st January 1952 was 70024 Vulcan which was completed in August 1951 but not allocated to Plymouth Laira until February 1952.

Crewe North depot closed in May 1965 so that the engines resulting in the allocation of some of the engines based there to Crewe South.

The class was well liked by crews in most regions of British Railways, with especially glowing reports from those operating them from Stratford depot on the Eastern Region, where its lower weight and high power transformed motive power over the restricted East Anglian lines. However, negative feedback was received from various operating departments, most notably on the Western Region. The criticism was primarily out of partisan preference for GWR-designed locomotive stock among Western Region staff; in particular, the class was ‘left-hand drive’ in contrast to ‘right-hand drive’ GWR locomotive and signalling practice, a factor in the Milton rail crash of 1955.

For this reason, the Western Region locomotive depots at Old Oak Common and Plymouth Laira declared that the class was surplus to requirements. However, Cardiff Canton depot displayed its liking for the class (despite being part of the former GWR empire) and managed to obtain good results on South Wales passenger traffic. Five of the locomotives moved from Old Oak Common and four from Plymouth Laira to Cardiff Canton in December 1956 and January 1957. One also moved to Cardiff Canton from Newton Abbot at the same time. From Canton the drivers managed to competently handle 400-ton expresses including the Red Dragon and Capitals United with the Britannia class engines at their disposal.

The Midland Region also had favourable reports, but a marked consistency in losing time on the longer runs between Holyhead and Euston was recorded, although all complaints were down to the individual techniques of the operating crews. This was compounded by the irregular allocation of the class to depots all over the network, meaning that few crews ever had a great deal of experience in driving them.

The Southern Region also had an allocation of seven in May 1953, when all Merchant Navy class locomotives were temporarily withdrawn for inspection after 35020 Bibby Line sheared a crank axle on the central driving wheel. The seven were allocated for a month to the SR depots with Salisbury having three and each of Exmouth Junction, St Leonards, Stewarts Lane and Nine Elms having one each. Two Britannia engines (70004 and 70014) were based at Stewarts Lane from September 1951 until June 1958 where their duties including hauling the Golden Arrow Pullman from London to Dover and the Bournemouth Belle. 70004 William Shakespeare had been on static display at Festival of Britain exhibition at South Bank in London from new before going to Stewarts Lane., from 4 May until 30 September of that year.

Repairs to the class were undertaken at Crewe, Swindon and Doncaster Works until the financial constraints of the British Railways Modernisation Plan in terms of expenditure on steam began to preclude the regular overhaul of locomotives. During the mid-1960s overhauls were carried out exclusively at Crewe Works.

The onset of electrification of the West Coast Main Line, the introduction of English Electric Type 4s on Liverpool Street-Norwich services and the use of Western and Warship diesel-hydraulics on the WR eventually saw the Britannia class engines transferred to other locations. Some of the Norwich engines went to March and Immingham MPDs, while others were sent to Carlisle, Newton Heath, Llandudno Junction and Neasden.

The first locomotive to be withdrawn from service was number 70007 Coeur-de-Lion” in 1965, and the entire class was gradually transferred to Carlisle Kingmoor and Glasgow Polmadie depots as steam was displaced by the dieselisation of British Railways. A succession of bulk withdrawals began in 1967, and the last, of number 70013 “Oliver Cromwell”, took place in 1968, at the very end of steam operation in Britain. Subsequently that locomotive was selected to represent the class in the National Collection. Only 70000 “Britannia”, which was privately preserved, saw main line service during the preservation era – until 2008, when 70013 “Oliver Cromwell”‘s restoration was completed, and she worked part of the “15 Guinea Special” – a special train run to commemorate the final BR steam working in 1968. 70013 is now to be found operating main line railtours over the Network Rail system.

The first member of the class was given a livery of plain black without lining; this was changed to the new standard British Railways Brunswick green that was applied to express passenger locomotives after nationalisation, despite the locomotive being classed as mixed traffic. This was lined in orange and black, and the class was given the power classification 7MT.[33] The “Britannias” were numbered under the new British Railways standard numbering system in the 70xxx series.[34] The locomotives were numbered between 70000 and 70054, and featured brass nameplates with an initial black background, followed by red, located on the smoke deflectors.[35] Towards the end of steam plain green livery was substituted, with the touching-up of existing paintwork being preferred to full aesthetic overhaul.

The Fifteen Guinea Special

The Fifteen Guinea Special was so named because of the high price for tickets on the railtour (15 guineas = £15 15s 0d in pre-decimal British currency). Ticket prices had been inflated due to the high demand to travel on the last BR steam-hauled mainline train.

The railtour, on the 11th August 1968, started at Liverpool Lime Street and was hauled by 45110 to Manchester Victoria. 45110 was replaced with 70013 Oliver Cromwell for the run up to Carlisle via Settle. For the first part of the return leg 44781 and 44871 double-headed the train back to Manchester Victoria. Re-joining the train at Victoria station, 45110 then worked the remainder of the journey back to Liverpool Lime Street.

After leaving the train at Carlisle 70013 was serviced briefly at Carlisle Upperby before running light engine south over Shap to Carnforth.

The end of steam-hauled trains on British Railways was a turning point in the history of rail travel in Britain. The BR steam ban was introduced the day after the railtour, on 12 August 1968, making the Fifteen Guinea Special the last steam-hauled passenger train to be run by BR on its standard gauge network (though BR would continue to operate three steam locomotives on the narrow gauge Vale of Rheidol line until it was privatised in 1989). After this point all trains in Britain would be hauled by diesel or electric power, with the exception of privately owned heritage railways and privately run charters that are now able to run on the mainline provided that the steam locomotive has received necessary certification. The only steam locomotive to which the ban did not apply was Flying Scotsman due to a clause in the contract in when it was purchased from BR in 1963.

Steam trains hauled by preserved locomotives returned to mainline tracks in October 1971.

Preservation

It can be seen from the photographs below that they have had the nameplates removed some time before they were withdrawn from service.

70002 Geoffrey Chaucer arriving at Carlisle from the north-August 1965. 70002 was employed on the Eastern region until it was transferred to Carlisle Kingmoor in December 1963

70028 Royal Star on Workington shed-November 1965.70028 spent its early years based at Cardiff Canton but had a month in 1953 at Exmouth Junction. After being based at a number of London Midland Region depots it was transferred to Carlisle Kingmoor in September 1966.

70033 Charles Dickensat Carlisle December 1965.70033 spent all of its working life on the London Midland region. Its home bases included Holyhead, Manchester Longsight & Trafford Park,Llandudno Junction, Willesden plus Crewe North & South.. It moved to Carlisle Kingmoor in January 1965.

70010 Owen Glendower on Carlisle Kingmoor shed-January 1966.This was another Eastern Region locomotive until it was transferred to Willesden in March 1963. It was based at Carlisle Kingmoor from June 1965.

70041 Sir John Moore on Carlisle Kingmoor shed-January 1966.70041 was based on the Eastern Region until it moved to Carlisle Upperby in December 1963 but moved to Carlisle Kingmoor the following month.

70042 Lord Roberts on Carlisle Kingmoor shed-January 1966. After being based on the Eastern Region at Stratford 70042 moved to the London Midland Region at Kentish Town in May 1958. It soon moved on and after a number of homes ended up at Carlisle Kingmoor in December 1965.

70012 John of Gaunt on Carnforth shed-March 1966.70012 was based on the Eastern Region until it moved to Willesden in March 1963. It was transferred to Carlisle Kingmoor in August 1966

70038 Robin Hood at Carlisle-February 1967. 70038 like 70041 was based on the Eastern Region until it moved to Carlisle Upperby in December 1963 but moved to Carlisle Kingmoor the following month.

70016 Ariel passing Leeds Holbeck shed-May 1966.70016 started its working life at Leeds Holbeck but soon moved on to Stratford. By August 1953 it was based at Old Oak Common. It was transferred to the London Midland Region at Carlisle Canal in September 1961. After a period further south it returned to Carlisle at Kingmoor in May 1966.

70049 Solway Firth on Carlisle Kingmoor shed-August 1967. 70049 spent all of its life on the London Midland Region at various depots. It arrived at Carlisle Kingmoor in October 1964 and had a brief spell at Carlisle Upperby before returning to Kingmoor.

Locomotives have been arranged by the British Railways number they carried. Searches can also be made using any number or name the engine has carried during its life.

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